Thursday, February 25, 2010

March 16th is fast upon us and that’s when the next vote to consider approving the dreaded asphalt plant project will be heard. We need to make a push RIGHT NOW, rally the community and nail home that we do not want an asphalt plant next to our parks, schools, community and as our welcome mat to Petaluma and Sonoma County.

We can make it really easy for you. All you have to do is say YES, let us know your address and “poof” a lawn sign will appear. If you know of anyone else that might be able to do this please pass this information on to them.

Please let us know if you can help with this. It is a wonderful way to raise awareness and show that the community is united against this awful proposal!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

On Tuesday March 16, 2010 the Sonoma Board of Supervisors will cast their votes on the Dutra Asphalt Plant. Dutra will try to shove this project with its inadequate EIR through to approval with their false claims, doctored maps, and their empty promises of NO smell and NO Health Risk.

Have you ever been near hot asphalt that didn’t smell?

Nesting season in Shollenberger Park starts in March – but will the trees still be there when the herons and egrets return? If approved, Dutra could be sending bulldozers and cut down the Eucalyptus Grove, which is home to the heron and egret nests, the very next day.

In the spring, just north of Haystack Landing and across the Petaluma River from Shollenberger Park, giant eucalyptus trees stand leafy green but devoid of any apparent life. Several weeks later, from across the river, white spots can be seen in the foliage – Every year since 2003, Great Egrets have nested in the Shollenberger colony. A healthy colony suggests a healthy environment, and the Shollenberger colony has been devoid of predation or major disturbance since its onset. That could change in the near future.

The $25 you spend today will make a difference in this fight to stop the degradation of Shollenberger Park and the entire Petaluma Wetlands Eco-System.

Please donate today:

1) TO FUND LEGAL ACTION AND SAVE THE HERON AND EGRET COLONY.

2) TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN'S LEGACY OF VITAL WETLANDS AND CLEAN AIR FOR YEARS TO COME.

3) TO STOP THE ASPHALT PLANT AT HAYSTACK LANDING.

Dutra’s lies and their improper influence on our elected officials and County Planning Staff have got to stop. We can stop this charade but we need your help. Our wetlands, our Shollenberger Park, our Gateway to Sonoma County will be degraded and polluted with excessive and constant noise, night flood lights, over 46 toxic by-products of asphalt production and the diesel exhaust of over 100,000 trucks a year. Wildlife will be disrupted, air quality worsened, and a voter mandated Scenic View Corridor blighted with the view of two 64 foot storage silos.

Send your support of $25 or more today and help us be ready to stop Dutra. We called them on their deceptive maps presented to the Coast Guard, we showed them mis-locating high pressure PG&E pipes. Now we need to ask the hard questions about their new proposed mooring location. Each new set of claims and maps needs to be met with hard research and questions. Our County Staff doesn't do it, so we have to. If we each send at least $25, we’ll be ready with enough resources to stop Dutra with legal action the very Next Day!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Most people reading this column have experienced a ‘con’ at a carnival or fair. The Shell Game, or Hide-the-Ball, is one of the most common magic tricks. A ball is hidden under one of three shells or cups, which are then shuffled skillfully by the dealer. The player gambles that they can spot where the ball is hidden.

The dealer’s sleight-of-hand is designed to confuse players, and distractions by shills deflect attention from the tricks being played. A slippery dealer will never let the player find the ball. While the Shell Game looks simple, the con man always wins.

Dutra is playing the Shell Game with us, obscuring the truth about their Asphalt Factory proposal. The Argus Editorial “Keep Petaluma River Traffic Moving” (1/21/10) echoes Dutra’s p.r. game designed to confuse and scare the public into believing that without Dutra, the Coast Guard will shut down our River, all dredging would cease and we’d be inundated by floods.

Instead of trying to find the hidden ball, it’s really time we just stop playing with the con.

Dutra lied to the US Coast Guard and Sonoma County, saying that their barges and tugs would be moored outside the Petaluma River’s federally-dredged navigational channel. Dutra doctored their official maps so that their barges and tugs appear to avoid interfering with current and future commercial and recreational river traffic. The Coast Guard called them out on this fabrication, stating that the remaining channel clearance around a moored barge is not safe.

Dutra claims they’d moor barges for 4 hours to unload aggregates, averaging twice per week. But observations at Shamrock indicate that actual barge unloading time is closer to 8 hours. In letters to the County, Dutra insisted that when they’d operate 24/7 for large government paving jobs (80% of their asphalt business), they’d need to restock raw materials onsite with up to three 4000-ton barges per day, day and night. During those periods, the entire river channel will be blocked and dangerous by maneuvering and anchoring Dutra’s tugs and barges.

Dutra lied again to the US Coast Guard and Sonoma County, saying that two PG&E 12” high-pressure gas transmission pipelines crossing the River go through Shamrock’s parcel upstream, instead of their real location. We discovered that Dutra fabricated their official maps so the pipelines conveniently appear to bypass Dutra’s proposed tug and barge mooring site. However, the pipelines are on Dutra’s property, clearly marked with two 4’x8’ signs reading, “WARNING. DO NOT ANCHOR OR DREDGE. GAS PIPELINE CROSSING. PG&E”. (see: Dutra has a Terminal Gas Problem post below) Perhaps this is why Dutra has refused requests to dredge into their river bank to get their barges and tugs out of the River Channel.

Dutra still claims that dumping of over 200,000 cubic yards of dredge spoils into our Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (over 200 instances) was only minor ‘leakage’, caused by high seas and defective computer-controlled dumps on their barges. But Dutra paid a $735,000 fine to EPA in 2006 for these violations.

Dutra also claims that Miami-Dade County (Florida) inaccurately marked a dredging site in Biscayne Bay, when Dutra was discovered to have destroyed 3.5 acres of federally-protected sea-grass and coral beds. Yet in 2006, after declaring bankruptcy, Dutra’s insurance company paid Miami-Dade County $22.5 Million in compensation.

What’s next? Dutra will morph again to cover their exposed messes. Each time their Shell Game is uncovered, they come up with a new game.

Now, in response to insurmountable problems revealed at their site, Dutra is proposing to locate barge facilities at Shamrock’s property just upstream. Dutra will need a new EIR. Shamrock’s permits and operations must be reviewed closely for its capability to add 125 barges and tugs and over 550,000 tons of aggregates to their existing site.

Let’s stop gambling with Dutra with Shollenberger Park, our health, our River’s safety and wildlife, our tourism, and our community’s investments. Dutra has played Hide-the-Ball games too long about asphalt manufacturing capacity not needed regionally. It’s time for County staff to stop being conned by Dutra’s “magic show.” It’s way past time to end Dutra’s Shell Game, once and for all.

David Keller is a former City Councilman, and founder of the Petaluma River Council.

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Mission Statement

We are a group of ordinary citizens who enjoy open space, clean air, and community well being. We have joined together to preserve and protect Shollenberger Park and the Petaluma Wetlands for all of our families and for future generations.

We provide information and a forum for citizens to learn about our local environmental issues and work towards protecting our park. As a “Special Project” of the O.W.L. Foundation, (http://owlfoundation.net/OWL.htm), we are a non-profit organization and donations to support our activities are tax-deductible.